Talking about Olympic events while ramping up for the next major competition in Tokyo!

Friday, June 9, 2017

Olympic Blurb Breaking News!

I still follow many Olympic Twitter feeds even though we're in a non-Olympic year. Most of the time nothing important is announced that's Olympic-related, but today was major news.

The event list for the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics was finalized today, and a slew of new events were added.

If you've followed me since the last Olympics, you'll know that I am very passionate about bringing in more mixed-gender events. At this point, I see new events as a way to show how amazing everyone is!

Shockingly, I was rewarded for my fervor. Here's a list of those added events:

3x3 basketball for men and women

transfer of two men's events to two women's events in boxing

transfer of three men's events to three women's events in canoe

BMX freestyle cycling for men and women

Madison track cycling for men and women

men's and women's team events in fencing

transfer of onee men's event to one women's event in rowing

men's 800m swimming

women's 1500m swimming

transfer of mixed multihull to mixed foiling multihull in sailing

one fewer weight category in men's weightlifting

transfer of three men's events to mixed events in shooting

mixed doubles in table tennis

mixed team relay in triathlon

mixed team event in judo

mixed team event in archery

mixed 4x100m medley relay in SWIMMING

mixed 4x400m relay in TRACK

Among that giant list of added events are seven sports that are adding mixed events, and the amount of mixed-gender events is doubling from 9 in 2016 to 18 in 2020.

I am thrilled! This change was promoted by the International Olympic Committee as a way to make the games more youthful, urban, and female focused. Any action taken by the IOC to improve its games is one that is welcomed by me.

I am incredibly excited to see these mixed events at the Olympics. It is clear people are starting to understand that men and women, unique in their own ways, can compete together. We get to see these men and women work together for a common goal.

These new events have skyrocketed to the top of my must-watch list, that's for sure!